A coroner has condemned the lack of any service for diagnosing adults with autism in Croydon after hearing how a Sanderstead man died after being told there was no funding for him to undergo tests.

Ian Taylor was found by police in his garden shed after his sister found three notes including a suicide letter in his house after he hadn’t been seen for a day in September.

The 54-year-old had gone to his GP with a self-diagnosis of adult autism but was told by his GP that Croydon's CCG (clinical commissioning group) had previously cut its adult autism clinic funding.

An inquest heard today (Monday, January 15) that while Bethlem Royal Hospital, in Beckenham, provided adult tests, there is no funding for Croydon patients.

Assistant coroner Dr Adela Williams gave a verdict of suicide and said: “It’s a stain on our society that there is no room to look into an illness. That there is no route for that to be investigated and managed is an indictment of the system as it is.”

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Dr Williams added that Mr Taylor had been lonely and lived by himself.

She said: “He was an orderly and meticulous man who cared deeply for his pet dog and his family.

“His sister became concerned and upon arrival found several letters addressed to her, one said ‘in the shed’.

“There is no indication of strangulation or third party involvement and he made arrangements laid out in the letters to take care of his dog and close family.”

Mr Taylor, a civil engineer, lived on Limpsfield Road next door to his mum and had cared for with sister Heather Austin since their father passed away.

The inquest at South London Coroner's Court heard how Mr Taylor first visited his GP following a break-up in October 2003 and visited again in July 2016 believing he could have adult autism due to having to always keep to a strict timetable and struggling to engage socially.

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But for him to be able to undergo tests to be diagnosed, the GP would have had to make special applications with Croydon CCG having previously cut its adult autism funding.

The court heard the reasons he gave for taking his own life before being found at about 9.30am on Friday, September 15 were “he was suffering from depression” and “did not have any friends and did not fit in”.

A statement from Mrs Austin was read at the inquest, which said: “I entered his property and found a suicide note. I contacted the police who did a search of the property and found my brother deceased in the shed.”